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Season series: Opening night represents the only meeting of the 2011-12 season between these teams. They last matched up on Nov. 17, 2010, with Sidney Crosby opening the scoring and Marc-Andre Fleury stopping 29 shots in a 3-1 win for Pittsburgh at Consol Energy Center. It marked the first time in 10 years the Penguins beat the Canucks.

Big Story: It's the first meaningful game for Vancouver since a heart-breaking Game 7 loss on home ice to Boston in last spring's Stanley Cup Final, a series in which the Canucks once held 2-0 and 3-2 leads. The Penguins understand exactly what their opponent will be trying to accomplish this season -- Pittsburgh was defeated by Detroit in the 2008 Cup Final but rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits the following year in a rematch between the clubs to win Lord Stanley.

Team Scope:

Penguins: While everyone continues to focus on Crosby's recovery from the concussion he suffered back in January and when he might return to the Pittsburgh lineup, the Penguins quietly went about having a very strong preseason -- they won their first five games before a 3-2 loss to the Red Wings on Sunday. Crosby is with the team on this trip, though he'll start the season on injured reserve. Evgeni Malkin, however, is back and looking for a rebound season. He'll be the No. 1 center in Crosby's absence and is likely to center James Neal and offseason acquisition Steve Sullivan on the top line.

"Of course I'm excited," said Malkin, who was limited by knee injuries to 43 games last season. "I haven't played for a long time and I'm ready. I played four preseason games and my knee and body are ready. We have a great team and I think we're ready."

Canucks: When the Stanley Cup hangover gets talked about, it's usually in regards to the team that lifted the chalice at season's end -- however, it'll be interesting to see how Vancouver reacts early this season to the huge disappointment suffered back in June. The Canucks are determined to atone for losing to the Bruins, but first the defending Presidents' Trophy winners have to navigate another 82-game regular season in a Western Conference that only seems to have gotten tougher.

"The main thing is that last year is over now, we've got to focus on this season," said goaltender Roberto Luongo, who faces scrutiny of his own after struggling at times in the Final. "We know that to get to where we were, we've got to put in the work and we can't take things for granted and we've got to take it one game at a time and not look too far ahead."

Who's Hot: Malkin was among the leading preseason scorers with 3 goals and 7 points while playing in four of the Penguins' six games. … Cody Hodgson, the Canucks' first-round pick in 2008 who got a cup of coffee last season, scored a pair of goals in their preseason finale against the Oilers and will be counted upon to take the next step and contribute early, with a couple of key pieces missing.

Stat Pack: This is a matchup between the top-two penalty-killing teams in the NHL from last season. The Penguins had an 86.1 percent success rate, the first time in franchise history they led the League on the PK, while the Canucks were right behind them at 85.6 percent.

Puck Drop: While it was actually a short offseason for Vancouver after playing into June, those few months had to seem like an eternity as the players waited to get back on the ice again. It all starts for real Thursday night in front of what promises to be a lively Rogers Arena crowd.

"It's always fun, we know we've got great fans here and this is a big part of the reason we have so much success," forward Maxim Lapierre said. "We feel the energy they're bringing every game and we felt it in the playoff last year and I know it's going to be like that first game of the year on Thursday. It's a good feeling to play in front of these fans."

"You want to talk about a guy who makes the team? He is Michael Jordan. Their defense sucks. Every game, he has to outscore everybody. If I was to draft tomorrow any player in the NFL, it would be Andrew Luck one, Aaron Rodgers two." - Anonymous NFL GM talking about Andrew Luck

In the pick 'em thread in the NHL forum I actually went with Pittsburgh. They looked awesome in preseason and Malkin looks amazing. I have the Pens 3-2. I dislike both teams so it's not me hating. .. Either team can win, though I don't think this is going to be a high scoring game.

Daniel Sedin, and Chris Higgins score.

Game winner from Chris Kuniz early in the 3rd.
First star will be Evgeni Malkin with 1 goal, and 1 assist.

"You want to talk about a guy who makes the team? He is Michael Jordan. Their defense sucks. Every game, he has to outscore everybody. If I was to draft tomorrow any player in the NFL, it would be Andrew Luck one, Aaron Rodgers two." - Anonymous NFL GM talking about Andrew Luck

"You want to talk about a guy who makes the team? He is Michael Jordan. Their defense sucks. Every game, he has to outscore everybody. If I was to draft tomorrow any player in the NFL, it would be Andrew Luck one, Aaron Rodgers two." - Anonymous NFL GM talking about Andrew Luck

"You want to talk about a guy who makes the team? He is Michael Jordan. Their defense sucks. Every game, he has to outscore everybody. If I was to draft tomorrow any player in the NFL, it would be Andrew Luck one, Aaron Rodgers two." - Anonymous NFL GM talking about Andrew Luck

"You want to talk about a guy who makes the team? He is Michael Jordan. Their defense sucks. Every game, he has to outscore everybody. If I was to draft tomorrow any player in the NFL, it would be Andrew Luck one, Aaron Rodgers two." - Anonymous NFL GM talking about Andrew Luck

Sturm looks painfully slow. Hodgson looked scared for most of the game.

He gets the Jan Bulis Award for last night. lol.

Team didn't look too bad last night but you can see they still aren't up to speed.

"When you have limitations and you understand your limitations and you stay within yourself, you can be great," Kobe Bryant said. "You know what you can do and what you can't do. In America, it's a big problem for us because we're not teaching players how to play all-around basketball. That's why you have Pau and Marc [Gasol], and that's the reason why 90 percent of the Spurs' roster is European players, because they have more skill."